ICH Update Number 003 February 2009

Intangible Cultural Heritage Update

News and updates on and ’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Program

February 2009 [email protected] ISSN 1918-7408

In this issue Page 1 Dance Heritage Dance Heritage Think Tank Labrador Metis Nation On Saturday, Feb 21st, HFNL, MMaP and Neighbourhood Dance Works Page 2 ICH in Conception will host an open session for dance enthusiasts to meet and discuss the future Bay South of the tradition of dance. The event will be an introductory platform for members of the dance community to consider our various dance heritages Page 3 Trap Berth and identify what that means. The session will be guided by a series of Names questions intended to generate discussion and pinpoint common themes and trends. We will discuss issues of “dance preservation” and what, why, who, Page 4 Archives & Oral History and how we think about local dance history and traditions. The outcome Living RICH would be to consider if this is a topic of interest to community members, Cupid in and, if so, what future initiatives could be taken to address dance preservation in Newfoundland and Labrador. The event will take place from 1-4 at the MMaP gallery, Arts and Culture Centre, St. John’s. Tune or call in to CBC Radio Noon crosstalk (www.cbc.ca/radionoonnl) on Thursday, Feb 19th at 1pm, with ethnomusicologist Kristin Harris Walsh and dance archivist Colleen Quigley, to discus traditions of dance, and to warm up for the Dance Heritage Think Tank!

Labrador Metis Nation Workshop

On Tuesday, January 26th, Martha MacDonald, folklorist with the Labrador Institute, and Dale Jarvis, ICH Development Officer for the Province, gave an introductory workshop on intangible cultural heritage, fieldwork ethics and folklore interview techniques at the Labrador Metis Nation offices in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. LMN will be conducting fieldwork on various aspects of community folklore, folklife and place names over the coming months.

ICH Update Number 003 February 2009 ICH in South

by Kathy Foley, Partner Randforce Associates, Buffalo, New York

CBS Town Council has been a great supporter of heritage projects.

Their own collection of materials depth look at its local traditions. I history and traditions with a larger about their built landscape is very met Anthony Janes, the town’s audience. exciting. Four service clubs of Director of Economic Development Initially we will focus on the most , Kiwanis, in June 2008. He has been an famous comic folksong of Lions, Kinsmen, and Rotary, have enthusiastic sounding board for my Newfoundland heritage: “The developed the well-known ideas about the creation of cultural Kelligrews Soiree.” We’ll be “Kelligrews Soiree” events which tourism products. Over at the digging into are now Johnny Burke a incorporated bit, as you can into imagine, but community life we’ll incorporate during the information of a height of more modern summer. The nature based on town’s Heritage original field Committee research, thereby giving us a recently contemporary slant. We’ll also be announced a looking at its transmission from large slate of broadsheet to broadband. buildings that had been Other topics anticipated for our acknowledged legacy project are the Battle of as heritage Foxtrap; religious history; resource properties. management; soil production; nutrition and medicine; tourism in Local Conception Bay South Town Parks the 19th and early 20th centuries, secondary and post-secondary Commission is Karen Spencer, also women’s work and men’s work and students have already been a writer for the Telegram, who has all nature of verbal lore. employees of the Town Council, an recently given me the thumbs up to important transition in the prepare a project proposal for the Ambitious, yes, but we hope to development of civic-minded Cupids 400 celebrations. establish a framework to interpret programs. the town’s intangible cultural We’re excited about the partnership heritage for the general public. The Conception Bay South Town we’ve created, and even more so, There are early discussions about Council is now gearing up for an in- we look forward to sharing our establishing a museum as well. ICH Update Number 003 February 2009

Carbonear Trap Berth Names By Duncan Howell. Photos from Centre for Newfoundland Studies, The Geography Collection

Back in the early days of the cod moratorium, when it was still being looked on as a temporary measure, many knowledgeable people were looking to the future when the moratorium would end and the fishing industry would be rejuvenated.

There were many calls for a return I'm sure this probably happened White Rock. to more traditional, and presumably elsewhere, too. The following is a Bradley's Rock. less destructive, fishing methods list of the more popular trap berths Mad Rock. such as hook-and-line and cod of the Carbonear area. We shall Sunkers. trapping. proceed from Carbonear Island Between Clown's Cove and northward to Head. During that time (in 1993 to be Salmon Cove Head: exact) it occurred to me one day to On the south side of Carbonear Blow-me-down Bank #1. (Late ask, “What if the cod don't come Island: berth, Well off land.) back?” I was obliged to conclude Black Rock. Blow-me-down Bank #2. (Late that, in such an eventuality, cod Derricks. berth. Well off land.) trapping (and all the traditional Salmon Rock South Side. Tinkers #1-4. (Rough bottom.) knowledge and cultural heritage High Lands. (Early berth.) Jimmy's Rocks. surrounding it) would soon become Flat Rocks. (Early berth.) Long Point. a lost art. Mousehole. (Early, late, and The Hoof. rough.) Salmon Cove Head When the cod trap came into common use in the latter part of the On the north side of Carbonear No doubt, these wonderful, nineteenth century, it became Island: picturesque berth names have their necessary for fishermen to locate Easter Rock. (Early, late, and counterparts all over suitable places along the shore for rough.) Newfoundland. If the cod trap berths. Not every site was Butt-of-the Rock. moratorium had lasted only a few useful, due to incorrect depth, bad Golden Cup. years, these names might have bottom shape, or strong tides. Black Gulch. survived in common usage. Now, Scarcity of good berths in the Salmon Rock North Side. however, they are probably quickly Carbonear area became more and Soper's Point. vanishing. The Carbonear berths more serious as the number of Between Crocker's Cove and have been recorded. Some local fishing crews increased, and not a fishermen’s' unions may have some Clown's Cove: few confrontations resulted from old lists formerly used for draws. Butcher East. (Late berth.) competing crews coveting the same For other places, time is running Butcher West. (Late berth.) few good berths. out. Tuckermills. (Not much used Somewhere along the way, the trap before 1970s.) Duncan’s full article available at berths in this area acquired names. Maidenhair Island. http://tinyurl.com/bx66ev ICH Update Number 003 February 2009

Archival Support for Oral History Programs

The cultural heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador includes many areas that are documented only in the oral tradition. To assist with this, the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives (ANLA) is in the process of preparing a simple introductory guide to best practice in preserving and documenting oral history material. ANLA will also compile best practices on the collection not just of the information itself but of the metadata required to preserve, access and preserve the context of the information collected. Funded by the National Archival Development Program (NADP) administered by the Canadian Council of Archives for Library and Archives , the project will also include the development of a workshop template that can be offered on demand as requested by ANLA members and community groups. This project will provide a tool for ANLA member institutions and others to create, describe, preserve and access documentation of their intangible cultural heritage. Provincial funding agencies, as well as many institutions, have requested such a tool: ANLA expects the impact to be immediate upon its release. The primary targets for this project are ANLA member institutions, community museums and other community groups. Secondary audiences might include K-12 students, teachers and genealogists. For more information on ANLA and its programs, visit http://www.anla.nf.ca

Living RICH – February 18th and 19th The Living RICH (Rural Intangible Cultural Heritage) group will be hosting two days of events, including a cultural open house in Placentia, a Singing Kitchen in Branch, and a day-long symposium on ICH in St. Brides. Freeman Upshaw (shown left with part of a fyke net) will talk about his knowledge of eel trapping, and other local tradition bearers will be on site. For more information, contact [email protected], or telephone 709-227-2105.

Love and Lore – February 14th The Cupers Cove Soiree Committee and Cupids 400 Inc. are sponsoring a full day of events in honour of St. Valentine’s Day in Newfoundland’s most romantically named community, Cupids. The events include a family fun day and an evening dance, as well as an evening concert from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the former United Church Hall. The concert will feature traditional music, storytelling and recitations. Admission $5.00 at the door, includes tea/coffee/dessert. www.cupids400.com

Intangible Cultural Heritage Update, February 2009 Dale Jarvis, ICH Development Officer, Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador PO Box 5171, St. John’s, NL Canada A1C 5V5 [email protected]